CHILDREN'S EXPRESS Starring Winston Egbert Author: Francine Pascal. Pages: 74. Price: $2.75. Publisher: Bantam Skylark. Starring Winston Egbert, No. 13 in the Sweet Valley Kids series, is an entertaining book about a group of second-graders in Sweet Valley, Calif. The book tells the story of how Jessica Wakefield reacts when Winston Egbert gets the starring role in the Thanksgiving Day program

Seal Child Author: Sylvia Peck. Pages: 190. Price: $3.50. Publisher: Bantam Skylark. The novel Seal Child successfully combines fantasy and reality. Every year, Molly and her family go to Ambrose Island, off the coast of Maine, for the summer, but this year, they decide to go to the island for Christmas vacation. It's during the Christmas vacation when Molly meets Meara, a young girl about her

Imagine you are about to complete your training as a smoke jumper _ a firefighter who parachutes out of an airplane. Small fires are breaking out in the area, and you must decide whether to stay at camp and complete training or miss your final test and help fight the fires. Smoke Jumper, written by R.A. Montgomery and published by Bantam Books, is just that kind of book. It is a suspenseful,

High Trail to Danger Author: Joan Lowery Nixon. Publisher: Bantam Books. Pages: 168. Price: $15. High Trail to Danger is a long, boring trail to an unexpected cliffhanger. As the story begins, Sarah Lindley and her younger sister, Susannah, have just experienced the death of their mother, who owned a boarding house. When their greedy Aunt Cora and Uncle Amos unlawfully seize the boarding house

Ashley, age 6, writes, "I believe in God because He gave me my dog and He helps us with math." A 10-year-old girl writes, "I wish my dads would get lost because they both beat on me and my mom, sister, and brother. I don't want anything to do with them. I don't ever want to see them ever again." More than 10,000 letters like these are sent to author Misti Snow monthly. She publishes some of t

For 30 years, Jan and Stan Berenstain have invited readers to visit Bear Country and wander down a dirt road to a tree house and into the lives of Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister Bear. In a recent telephone interview, Stan Berenstain's deep, calming voice turned ordinary responses into bedtime stories. He reminded us of our grandfathers, and we could almost see his streaked gray hair and a pai

Here's to You, Rachel Robinson is Judy Blume's latest book. It is a continuation of Just as Long as We're Together, which follows Stephanie as she enters junior high and meets her friends Alison and Rachel. Here's to You focuses on Rachel and her competitive family. Her older brother Charles has always captured most of their parents' attention, and Rachel and her older sister Jessica have enj

Witch's Sister Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Publisher: Dell Publishing. Price: $18.75, hardcover; $3.50, paperback. Pages: 150. From the shadows of the pool, Black as midnight, thick as gruel, Come my nymphs, and you shall be, Silent images of me. Have you ever suspected someone you know is a witch? If you have, then maybe you'll understand the plight of Lynn, the main character in the b

Against the Odds Author: L.M. Montgomery. Editor: Rea Wilmshurst. Publisher: Bantam Books. Price: $4.50. Pages: 240. Against the Odds by L.M. Montgomery is supposed to be a collection of 18 short stories. There are 18 stories but one plot. Against the Odds should have been called Eighteen Ways to Get Money. These stories are basically about earning money or acquiring possessions. Montgomery ten

In December 1980, a spokeswoman for Parents for Basic Education testified before a Lapeer, Mich., school board in the hope of banning The Chocolate War, which is aimed at teen-age audiences. She said the book included "profanity for profanity's sake and there's a very explicit homosexual encounter." This was not the first time the novel by Robert Cormier had come under fire. The Chocolate War,

They're Torturing Teachers in Room 104 Author: Jerry Piasecki. Pages: 134. Price: $3.50 paperback. Publisher: Bantam Skylark. I have no regrets about reading They're Torturing Teachers in Room 104. I loved it! It's funny, it's wild and the situations are unpredictable! It will make you smile on a rainy day, or any day. The scene is a typical American school, in a typical American town. However